Wary Gators get pumped for Vol-atile environment

Florida has won once in past seven visits to Tennessee's loud arena

12:04 AM,
Feb. 26, 2013

Kenny Boynton (top) of the Florida Gators drives for a shot over Cameron Tatum (23) of the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on Jan. 7, 2012 in Knoxville, Tenn. The Vols defeated Florida 67-56.

Written by

David Jones
| FLORIDA TODAY

Knoxville has never been a really friendly place for the University of Florida basketball team. The Gators' 2006 and 2007 national title teams both lost games there before making NCAA runs. UF has won at Thompson-Boiling Arena just once in the past seven visits - an overtime victory in 2011.

It's a massive, loud, unfriendly arena and a base of fans that thrive on hating Florida.

But the Gators (22-4 overall, 12-2 in SEC play) hold a two-game lead in the conference title race heading into the final two weeks of the regular season and tonight's 9 p.m. contest on ESPN vs. Tennessee (16-10, 8-6) isn't ...